I am a licensed clinical social worker who just happens to adore the written word. I have had a private practice and am now writing a memoir on my life in the company of my father and many of my clients who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I hope to dispel some myths and break down some barriers for those with mental illness.
I write out of need and complete joy, which I hope to convey throughout my blogs. The human experience is not exclusive to one group. I hope to appeal to most as I touch on some pretty heady material with some self-deprecating humor and raw emotion thrown in for good measure.
I have four amazing children, one HUGE dog and a tolerant husband. I am blessed.

The human experience in all its glory….

All posts tagged: loss

Mom….? What happens to you when I am no longer your daughter in your mind? When you don’t seem to know me anymore? Does it mean I no longer exist to you? Does it mean you no longer exist as my mother? Do I become, in essence, mother-less? How do I carry on then? How does ANYONE move forward when the cornerstone has been removed from the building they have depended on for shelter for all of their years? […]

How in the bloody hell do you do it? Do what? Get through days where all you hear about are the media enhanced war stories, suicides, child abuse and neglect atrocities, gun violence on our neighborhood streets, ISIS, Syria beheadings, earthquakes, fires, melting ice caps, Ebola, political deadlock, the 99%… Oh. That. Well, I just have to look at my children. I look into my young son’s deep brown eyes that […]

Staples commercial circa 2009 It says it all really…I’m sorry, it just does. Meanwhile, I sit in a my counseling office doing Gestalt therapy* on myself. The session goes something like this: Q – Do I wish that a commercial highlighting the idea that summer is over and my four children have to return to brightly lit classrooms with assigned seating and designated computer use didn’t make me giddy with delight? A – Yes. Yes, […]

Her tattoo read “just be held” in black lowercase typewriter-key font. It was perhaps one of the most impulsive decisions she’d made for the time commitment it required of her body. She treated herself to those particular three words on a warm day in July when she felt like she was coming completely undone. Casting Crowns new release,Thrive, had premiered on Pandora. In a moment of utter despair their song, “Just Be Held” spoke to her. It cut […]

See that? Even these old rusted out cars aren’t alone. Wonder where they were headed? Seems I read about them travelling somewhere in Asia. An earthquake hit and everyone who was able, evacuated their cars and walked to safety. No one ever retrieved their cars as the road was no longer useable. Cars all crushed and mangled together. It’s been many years since. Vehicles as far as the eye can see. This is prompting me to think way more deeply than […]